Thursday, August 30, 2012

Pam provides a high degree of inspiration

She battles brain tumour to gain history 2:1

* Pam Williams-Hughes will graduate with a 2:1 in history from Glyndwr University.

A LLANGOLLEN woman has won her battle against a brain tumour
and severe dyslexia to gain a university degree at the age of 69.

Pam Williams-Hughes will proudly collect a 2:1 BA Honours in
History at the Glyndwr University graduation ceremony in October.

And she says her achievement marks the fulfilment of a
lifelong dream to hold a university degree.

Pam, who is originally from Birmingham and moved to
Llangollen last February after spending her working life first in the Royal Air
Force and then with local authorities, was diagnosed with a brain tumour before
she started as a mature student on a fine art degree course at Glyndwr in
Wrexham in 2007.

She said: “I did the degree because I wanted something
bigger in my life than the tumour.”

But a brain scan in September 2008 revealed the devastating
news that the tumour on her pituitary gland had tripled in size in just three
months.

Pam had to undergo a life-saving operation at a neurological
hospital in Liverpool, which saw the tumour successfully removed.

Despite being given the welcome news the growth had not been
malignant, her sight was affected.

Although this did not seem too critical to her, doctors told
her it was severe enough to mean she could not wear goggles or a face mask
which are often necessary on the art course she was on.

She said: “This meant I wasn’t able to continue with fine
art but I was allowed by the university and Denbighshire County Council to
transfer to a history degreecourse and
I was told the research work I had already done for fine art, privately and at
the Glyndwr, would be acceptable on that.

“I therefore moved over to history and I am delighted to say
I will graduate with a 2:1 in October.

“At the graduation ceremony I will also be presented with an
award for being an outstanding student in humanities, so I am looking forward
very much to that.”

She added: “I’ve had to work really hard and have achieved
this despite the brain tumour and having severe dyslexia but it is the
realisation of a dream I have had since I was a child to have a university
degree.

“Throughout I have received excellent support from everyone
at the university, especially Dr Kathryn Ellis, the head of history, and Peter
Bolton, one of the main tutors, who have both been fantastic.

“Hopefully, what I have been able to do will inspire other
people to see what they are capable of.”

The dissertation which helped Pam land her degree was an
exploration of the case of Abraham Thomas, a young man from Henllan, near
Denbigh, who was hanged in Manchester for the murder of his employer’s
housekeeper in 1883.

Pam said: “There were grave doubts whether he actually did
pull the trigger so I suggest in my dissertation there was a miscarriage of
justice.

“I now plan to take a year off from my studies to write a
book based on my dissertation before returning to Glyndwr in September next
year to work with Kathryn Ellis and Peter Bolton towards an MA qualification
and then a PHD in 19th century Welsh crime and the social conditions
linked to it.”

Pam will refer the case of Abraham Thomas when she delivers
a lecture on miscarriages of justice for members of the English Methodist Church's This and That group at Llangollen Memorial Hall next
January.